


They Are Mine

by bananamop



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Body Image, Character Study, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Motherly Chloe Decker, Platonic Cuddling, lucifer has body image issues when it comes to his wings, lucifer struggles with his wings in this one folks, post 3x24
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-02 02:04:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17879027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bananamop/pseuds/bananamop
Summary: Lucifer struggles with reclaiming his wings and making them his. Just because he doesn't cut them off doesn't mean his Father is still controlling him, and he knows that logically, just not emotionally.Post 3x24 character study where i rip out my own fluff-filled heart, enjoy!





	They Are Mine

**Author's Note:**

> SO this WAS going to be the prologue chapter to the 5+1 about Lucifer's wings popping out at the most inappropriate times but it sorta just got away from me haha. Enjoy this character study on Lucifer's wing image issues ~

Having Lucifer’s wings tucked constantly was at best uncomfortable and at worst unbearably painful. It was like being in a straight jacket. If he didn’t let them stretch out the muscles would cramp and twist against his undershirt. Normally they would pop open in his sleep if the tension got to be too much, but Lucifer had found himself a loophole. All he had to do was sleep with someone- with a human present his wings wouldn’t unfurl without conscious effort. Something Daddy dearest put in place to protect his toys from divinity. It was a simple solution that kept his wings away for as long as he could bear it. 

It had been a month since the muscle pain had become a daily issue. A month of sleeping with someone new every night. A month of cringing when Dan pat his back and pretending sitting in chairs or laying in bed weren’t the worst part of his day. 

Chloe sat at her desk Monday morning and slowly went through the motions of the paperwork that came with being a Detective. She felt her phone buzz against the desk. Sighing, she picked it up and leaned back in her chair. 

_ LUCIFER _

_ > Can’t make it in today darling, dealing with some family issues. _

She paused and read the text over again. She knew what it truly meant. _Family stuff upset me, please don’t bother me._ It worried her. Before she knew who Lucifer truly was, she speculated that he had maybe come from the foster care system. That maybe something happened to his birth parents that caused him to use metaphors to protect himself. But in reality it was much more than that. He was the first child to ever be disowned by his parents. There were no support systems then. Only himself and eventually Maze. Chloe knew that one of the ways Lucifer dealt with his emotions was to isolate himself and try to bury them by himself. Linda had been working with him to find other coping mechanisms, but old habits die hard, which meant millennia old issues probably didn’t truly die in just one human year of therapy. Chloe put down her phone and got back to work, telling herself to swing by Lux on her way home. 

~~~

“Lucifer?” Chloe yelled into the penthouse as she stepped out of the elevator. 

“Detective?” The Devil’s voice rang from the master bathroom, “Detective, now is not a good time! Please leave.” There was a tone of urgency in his voice that settled in Chloe’s chest. Something was seriously wrong. 

“Lucifer are you-” before she could finish her sentence she heard glass breaking in the bathroom and a frustrated scream. She rushed to Lucifer, stopping in the doorway. 

The man was standing in the middle of his huge bathroom in only a pair of sweatpants, looking like a truck had hit him. Chloe took note of the broken glass and puddle of alcohol on the floor. She looked up to Lucifer, who was standing as still as possible and looking at the glass around his bare feet, finding somewhere safe on the floor he could step. Then there was his wings. They looked… Tired. They drooped behind his back in a resting position. The feathers were still puffed up in reaction to whatever caused the decanter to shatter against the ground. 

Lucifer raised his arms and dropped them in defeat, “What a waste of perfectly good whiskey.” He sighed. He looked up at the Detective with tired eyes, “What brings you here, Detective?” 

“I came to check on you,” She said softly, “Wait here. I’ll get something to clean up the glass.” 

“No need, I’ll just handle it later.” Lucifer said. In a soft whip of wind Lucifer disappeared and reappeared behind the detective. He didn’t quite stick the landing, however, and stumbled backwards until he finally lost his balance and dropped to the floor with an ‘oof’. He quickly got up and dusted off his hands on the front of this sweatpants. As he turned around and walked deeper into the master bedroom, Chloe noticed that Lucifer was pressing his wings tightly against his back. She knew he had a complicated relationship with them. Was he upset with them for some reason?

“Lucifer are you ok?” Chloe said. Her concern fell on deaf ears. She watched Lucifer search for a shirt. The man settled on a white shirt from the ground and got to work putting it on. He slouched and bent over the shirt, maneuvering it to go over his wings. The back of the shirt found itself caught in the wings’ “armpit”. Unable to pull it down in the back, Lucifer took in a breath and carefully straightened out his wings. There wasn’t quite enough room for them to spread fully, but it was enough that he could tuck in his wings and pull down on the back of the shirt in one swift motion. Chloe could have sworn she heard joints popping and cracking during that sorry excuse for a stretch. 

“One moment Detective.” Lucifer said, walking hunched over to the Assyrian stone wall. He looked ridiculous with his winged stuffed under his shirt. Before Chloe could answer, Lucifer flung his back toward the wall. With a loud bang, the wings were gone, “The pesky things just don’t seem to want to stay hidden like they should recently.” 

“Is this the family issue, Lucifer? That your wings won’t stay folded?” Chloe asked her partner.

Lucifer sighed in frustration, “Ever since Pierce they’ve decided that they quite like being unfurled. Can you believe that Detective? My own wings won’t listen to me!” In an instant Lucifer’s shirt ripped off and his wings unfolded, crashing into the sides of the room and causing more things to break. His feathers were fluffy from emotion. 

“Argh!!” Lucifer huffed. He brought his wings down to a resting position and plopped down on the floor, “You see Detective? I can’t go into the precinct and have my shirt rip off! Do you know how hard it is to find a decent tailor nowadays?” 

“Do you need me to call Amenadiel?” Chloe asked, reaching into her pocket for her phone. 

“No!” Lucifer shot up and grabbed the phone, but not taking it out of her hand, “No. No need to get Brother involved in this.” 

“Then how do we fix this?” She asked. 

Lucifer stopped for a moment.  _ We.  _ How do  _ we _ fix this. He wouldn’t have to figure out his angelic problems himself this time. He had the Detective. The wonderful, kind, generous Detective Chloe. Lucifer felt tears press behind his eyes. 

“Lucifer?” Chloe asked with a bit of shock when he pulled her in for a hug, “Are you ok?” She finished closing the gap between them and wrapped her arms around his chest. She could feel the gentle tremble of emotion under her partner’s skin. 

Lucifer sniffed and let go, putting her at arm's length. His hands stayed on her shoulders as he looked into her eyes, “I’m sorry. It’s just- you said  _ we _ .” he said with a slight laugh. 

“Well yeah, I’m not going to leave you to deal with this alone. Someone’s gotta make sure that at least  _ some _ of the top-shelf stays in-tact.” She quipped back with a smile. 

“Right,” Lucifer chuckled, “Of course.”

“Ok. Talk to me, do you know why your wings aren’t acting up?” Chloe led Lucifer to the bed and sat with him. 

“My wings are… were unwanted nuisance that Dad thrust upon me.” Lucifer began, “But then. I used them to save you and fight Pierce and there was this connection.” Lucifer swallowed a lump that had began to form in his throat, “It’s just- they haven’t felt _mine_ in a long while. In the past they’ve always been my Father’s- reminder of him.” Lucifer looked into Chloe’s eyes with determination, “But they’re _mine_ _now_ … and… I’m struggling to accept that.” A tear rolled down his cheek, “So I tried to lock them away again, Chloe, but it hurts so much to tuck them away all the time. And then they pop out and I can’t help but hurt when I see them.” 

Chloe studied Lucifer for a moment. He had come so far. No way he could have expressed his feelings like this if this had happened even just a few months ago. 

“Lucifer I am so proud of you,” Chloe told the Devil gently, “We can get through this together.”

That broke Lucifer. He wrapped himself around Chloe and cried into her shoulder. Chloe returned the hug and rubbed her partner’s back. They stayed like that until Lucifer’s shaking turned to even breaths. Exhausted from the day, the two curled up in the Devil’s bed and fell asleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> THE 5+1 IS COMING I SWEAR ;^;


End file.
